freebsd reinstall

[clayton rollins]

On Nov, 25, 2003,
    Bert Lagaisse <bert.lagaisse at cs.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote:

>Hey
>
>My filesystem is screwed (missing package-db, missing log files, ...) after 
>a fsck (deleted to much)
>
>I think I need to reinstall my freebsd system.
>
>What is the best tool to make a backup of my most important files (X config 
>file, kde configuration stored in homedir ...)
>
>And most desirable in a way i can easily restore them to the directory they 
>belong
>
>Is there a less time consuming way of fixing my system ? (incl the db 
>containing the installed packages)
>
>
>--
>Bert Lagaisse

Hi Bert,

First off: for backups, I generally just use CD-R's along with
tar and gzip. (Or, if possible, get a hard drive big enough
for the stuff you're concerned with.)

I'm not going to say any more on that, as I don't believe
you'll *need* to reinstall. (Of course, you should keep
backups, anyways.)

The package database can likely be restored using pkgdb;
see the man page for documentation. (Specifically, look at
the -F  and -u switches.)

The missing files can probably be restored by using
touch and chmod, but you'd need to supply more
information before you can be helped with that. (which
files?)

As I said, I believe you can get the system working
without reinstalling; that's about the most I can say here
(on -newbies). Since you'll probably need more/better help
to actually accomplish this, I would encourage you to write
freebsd-questions in the near future, which is the proper
list for technical support. (It shouldn't be too hard for the
masters there to help you with this.)

Just to note, as a newbie, it is quite possible that I
overlooked some possibilities for restoring your files.
(A good example of why technical questions should be sent
to -questions.) Again, you're encouraged to write -questions
before proceeding.

Peace and Good Luck,
Clayton

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